Grin And Bear It
by forensicsfan
Summary: COMPLETE - Nick wants to ask Sara something and he needs a little help.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them, I didn't create them, and I don't profit from them, but as always coffee is on me if George and Jorja have the time.

**Author's Note:** This is just a nice little piece of fluff for my fellow Snickers.

* * *

"Can I help you, sir?" The twenty-something woman looked at a perplexed looking Nick Stokes as he studied at the vast array of options in front of him. 

He glanced up and looked at the nametag of the woman who was obviously an employee of the Build-A-Bear store he was in. "Uh, Lisa, I didn't realize you could get more than a bear in here."

She smiled at him. "You can get bears, pigs, dogs, horses, and we've even got Elmo."

Nick wasn't sure he could make another decision right now. He had just spent the last several hours making a very painstaking decision, but this was part of the plan. He took a deep breath and then smiled a bit sheepishly. "I think I'd better just stick to a bear."

"Polar, brown, traditional Teddy, or would you be interested in one of our special limited edition colors?" Lisa seemed to be pouring on the charm. The store had been open for a few hours, but it was a relatively slow day and she wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to flirt with a cute guy.

Nick furrowed his brow and let out a chuckle. "Ah, let's just stick with the traditional one; I think that might make this a little easier." He wasn't sure why he was having such a hard time making the decision about something like this, but then he wanted everything to be perfect.

Lisa quickly picked up an empty teddy bear and smiled at Nick. "Making a gift for your daughter?" There was something about her tone that implied that she was fishing for information about Nick's availability.

Nick shook his head. "I don't have kids."

Lisa tilted her head slightly. "Your wife then?"

Nick finally picked up on the fact that she was hitting on him and a tiny smile played at his lips. "I'm not married."

"You're a big fan of bears?" Lisa was pushing the issue as she led Nick over to the machine the stuffing for the bear was in.

Nick chuckled softly. "Not exactly."

Lisa looked at him a bit quizzically as she handed the bear over to another female employee who was about the same age as Lisa so she could stuff the bear.

Nick looked at both of the women with amusement on his face. "It's a gift for someone."

The second employee glanced at Nick and then rolled her eyes at Lisa as she filled the bear up with stuffing and smiled conspiratorially at Nick. "You need to pick out a heart." She gestured towards a basket filled with small red hearts.

Nick glanced at her nametag and smiled, doing his best to ignore Lisa. "Uh, thanks, Chelsea." He looked at the basket and an idea formed in his mind. He reached in and took two, flashing Chelsea his best smile. "Do you think we could put two hearts in that bear?"

Chelsea smiled curiously. "I guess."

Lisa looked at him a bit strangely.

Nick spoke in a conspiratorial tone to Chelsea. "It's a gift for my girlfriend and I just want her to know that she has my heart."

Chelsea's mouth dropped slightly. "That is so romantic."

Lisa looked a little put out that Nick was obviously taken.

Nick looked a little doubtful. "You think so?"

Chelsea nodded as she put the two hearts into the bear and began to stitch it up. "If my boyfriend did that I'd marry him."

Nick's smile widened into a grin. "Good."

Chelsea's eyes widened.

Lisa squealed with a happy smile on her face. "You're proposing with the bear?" Apparently the idea of something so romantic made Lisa forget that she was just hitting on him.

Nick nodded a faint blush in his cheeks. "I just spent two hours picking out a ring."

"Lucky woman." Chelsea observed with a smile as she finished stitching up the bear.

"You have to put that bear in a tux." Lisa looked like a woman who had a mission. "She'll just die." She pulled at Nick's arm as she propelled him over towards the myriad of choices to outfit the bear.

"A tux." Nick mulled the idea and smiled. "That beats wearing one myself."

"You'd look good in a tux." Lisa commented looking at him appreciatively. "I bet your girlfriend would think so too."

Nick let out a chuckle again. "Well it doesn't really fit into the plan but I'll keep that in mind."

"Trust me, any woman thinks a man looks fine in a tux, especially one as good looking as you." She smiled genuinely. "What's your girlfriend's name?"

"Sara." There was a way that Nick smiled that only happened when he spoke her name. "She's pretty incredible."

"I bet she is." Lisa plucked a tuxedo outfit off the racks and then moved towards the shoes to find a pair to match. "What are you going to name the bear?"

Nick furrowed his brow in confusion. "Name?" He didn't realize that part of the experience was giving the bear a name.

Lisa nodded. "Every bear gets a name and a birth certificate."

Nick considered that for a moment as he looked at the bear and then with the two hearts that he'd had placed inside in mind, he grinned. "I guess the bear's name would have to be Snickers."

"Snickers?" Lisa looked at him quizzically as she dressed the bear in the tux and put the shoes on it.

"Sara. Nick. Snickers." Nick thought he was being pretty clever combining their names like that, and he was suddenly craving chocolate.

Lisa nodded in understanding and put the bear in a special cardboard carrying case. "Ok, you're set."

Nick paid for the bear and then turned to leave.

Lisa called out after him. "You'll have to come back and tell us if she says yes."

Nick grinned as he glanced back. "I may just do that."


	2. Chapter 2

Nick was pretty pleased with himself as he left the mall. His plan was moving in perfect precision; the parts that didn't require Sara's participation that is. They hadn't talked much about marriage, but Nick was certain that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, and he was ready to make a complete fool out of himself to let her know that. He just hoped that he could pull it off and make it a surprise and that she said 'yes'.

He had just climbed into his Denali with the ring securely in his pocket and the Build-A-Bear in its cardboard carrying case when his cell phone rang. "Stokes."

The voice on the other end was none other than the lady in question. "Hey, I stopped by your house on the way home, but you weren't there." There was disappointment in Sara's voice.

"I was just out running some errands." This was one time Nick wished that the double Sara thought she was going to have to pull had actually been a double. Ever since they'd been put on different shifts he had a harder time keeping track of when she was supposed to be done working.

"Are you coming home soon, or should I just head back to my apartment?" Sara had that tone, the one that told him that she'd had a tough case or Grissom had done or said something to piss her off or both.

"Are you there now?" Nick knew that she probably was and that she had a key, so he was going to have a little problem getting the bear into his house where he'd planned to hide it and he couldn't exactly leave it in the SUV.

"Yeah." She sounded wistful, and Nick knew that tone all too well.

Usually when she sounded like that it excited him, this time, it just made him incredibly nervous. He had to find a way to get the bear in the house without her knowing about it. "I'll be home soon."

"How soon?" She wasn't grilling him; she just needed to see him.

Nick let out a soft chuckle. "In about fifteen or twenty minutes."

"Have you eaten?" Sara needed something to distract her until Nick got home.

"No, I haven't. Have you?" Nick knew she really didn't take care of herself very well, and when she was working she could forget to eat; not to say that she couldn't eat like a wrestler trying to make weight when she did eat.

"No." Sara was already formulating in her mind what Nick probably had in his fridge. "I'll make something, just hurry up and come home."

Nick couldn't help but smile. "I'll be there soon. I love you."

"I love you too." Sara's voice indicated that she was smiling too.

Nick hung up the phone still smiling until he realized that the bear was still sitting next to him. There was no way she was not going to see that if she decided to go home, and if she decided she wanted to stay, that was going to complicate things too. He let out a sigh. He wanted to ask her to marry him, but he hadn't planned on doing it quite this soon.

When he arrived home, he decided to just leave the bear in the Denali until he could figure out how to get it in the house without her seeing it. As he walked in the door, he could tell from the look on her face and the amount of food she was cooking that her shift had been hellish. He walked into the kitchen and snaked his arms around her waste. "Hey." He planted a kiss on her cheek and rested his chin on her shoulder.

"I hope you like eggplant. You don't have very much in your refrigerator and I didn't know what else to make that sounded good. The sauce is just from a jar, but I did find some linguine we can toss with it." Sara's rambling gave Nick a good indication that she was on the verge of tears.

"Sara." Nick's voice was soft and gentle. "Leave the food for a minute, ok?"

"It's almost done and then we can eat." Despite the fact that Nick's arms were wrapped around her waist, Sara was stiff. Something was definitely on her mind.

"I'll set the table then." Nick acquiesced and pulled away, moving towards the cupboard to get a couple of plates.

As soon as he moved, Sara sniffled. "Nick."

"Yeah?" There was just something about the way she sounded that stopped Nick in his tracks.

"What if this doesn't work?" She was full of self doubt.

Nick wasn't sure exactly what she was talking about and hoped she wasn't talking about them. "What if what doesn't work?" He wanted to be clear on what she meant and he stepped towards her and rested his hands on her shoulders.

"Us." Sara's voice was small.

Nick turned her around to face him and looked into her eyes. "I love you, Sara."

"I know, I love you too." Sara didn't look completely convinced.

"Then what's the problem?" He really didn't know why she seemed so full of doubt.

Sara let out a frustrated sigh and looked away from him. "Grissom said something." She began to bite her lower lip and wouldn't meet Nick's gaze.

Nick clenched his jaw for a moment. He had a great deal of respect for Grissom, but every once in a while his mentor would say something that indicated that he hadn't really thought before opening his mouth. "What did he say?" Nick tried to keep his voice soft, belying how he was feeling inside.

"He said that my relationship with you could hinder both of us professionally, that even though we were working different shifts, that Ecklie wasn't thrilled about it." Sara looked upset and let out another sniffle.

A myriad of swear words ran through Nick's mind, but fortunately none of them made it to his mouth. He simply pulled Sara into his arms and whispered in her ear. "Sara, you are more important to me than career advancement. I don't care what Ecklie or Grissom say."

"But I don't want you to miss out because of me, Nick." Sara knew that Nick's career had great potential and she was frustrated that a relationship with her would limit his future.

Nick was a bit dumbfounded. He pulled away from Sara and looked into her eyes. "Stay right here, I left something in the Denali that I need to show you."


	3. Chapter 3

Nick wasn't sure what he was doing; this definitely wasn't part of the plan, but he also knew that at that moment Sara needed to know exactly how he felt so she didn't do something rash like break up with him. That would be just the kind of thing she might do if she thought his career was in danger. What she didn't seem to understand was that he would trade his career for her any day; not that he had to make that choice, there was nothing in the employee handbook that prohibited relationships between coworkers. It was just generally frowned upon.

He paused when he got to his Denali and tried to formulate what he was going to say to her. Should he just come out and ask her to marry him? Or should he give her the bear and see what her reaction was first? If she didn't respond favorably to the bear maybe it was an indication that she wasn't ready to hear him propose, or maybe he'd misjudged the situation altogether and she wasn't thinking about marriage at all. He was, after all, the one who had brought it up; Sara's position on the topic wasn't exactly clear.

Suddenly Nick felt more nervous than he'd ever felt in his entire life. What if he proposed and she said 'no'? Or worse, what if she just looked at him as if he was absolutely insane? Would she think it was too soon? Would she launch into some spiel about how marriage was an archaic institution and she saw no need for it?

The collar of Nick's V-necked shirt seemed too constricting and he found that his heart was beating rapidly. He wasn't sure what he would do if Sara didn't want him. He had spent nearly four years denying that he had a thing for her and quite by accident he had divulged his feelings and was pleasantly surprised that she felt the same way. They hadn't looked back and now here he was feeling as if he was on the edge of a precipice with no safety net.

He took a deep breath and opened the door of the Denali and pulled out the carrying case the bear was in. He had been prepared to make a fool of himself when he had decided to propose and he reasoned that there was no time like the present.

When he came back in to the house, Sara was in the kitchen putting eggplant and pasta onto plates while she sniffled and wiped away tears.

The sight of her standing there like that nearly broke Nick's heart. He put the bear down on the couch and walked into the kitchen. "Sara?"

She didn't look at him as she ladled sauce onto the noodles. "The food's ready." Her voice had a hitch in it.

Nick reached over and stilled her hands. "The food can wait for a few minutes, ok?" He looked at her earnestly as she finally looked up and met his gaze.

She just nodded as a tear slipped down her cheek and she allowed Nick to take her hand and lead her over to the couch.

Nick pulled her into the couch with him as he sank down and he put his arms around her.

Sara immediately noticed the box. "What's that?" She looked up at Nick inquisitively.

"It's a present for you." Nick had a flirtatious tone in his voice as he smiled.

"Can I see it?" Sara sounded very girl-like.

"Uh huh." Nick reached over and picked the box up by the handle and set it on Sara's lap.

"Build-A-Bear?" Sara didn't avoid the mall, but she wasn't one to linger either and she had never heard of the store.

Nick nodded. "I had it made for you." He was having a hard time containing his grin even though his nerves felt like they were putting on a three-ring circus in his stomach.

Sara cautiously opened the box and when she pulled out the tux wearing Teddy bear she almost started crying again. "You did this for me?" She hugged the bear to her and let out a laugh.

Nick scooted closer to her. "There's more." He reached in the box and pulled out the birth certificate. "See."

Sara looked at him quizzically. "Snickers?"

Nick felt a little embarrassed. "Uh, yeah. Sara. Nick. Snickers." He just hoped she didn't find the fact that the bear had two hearts corny.

"That's so sweet." She leaned over and kissed Nick softly.

Nick was grinning mischievously as Sara pulled away. "He has two hearts."

"Huh?" Sara looked at him oddly.

"You pick a heart for them to put in when they stuff him. I had them put in two." Nick explained.

Sara wasn't quite picking up what he was implying. "Ok."

Nick felt his nerves swelling as he took a deep breath and continued. "I had them put two hearts in there because I wanted you to know that you have my heart." His voice was soft as he looked at Sara expectantly, testing the waters to see how she might react if he implemented the rest of his plan.

Sara's eyes widened at his statement and then she leaned up and kissed him again a little longer than the first time. As she pulled away, she whispered in a husky voice. "I love you so much."

Nick snaked his arms around her waist and whispered back. "I love you too." He leaned in and leisurely kissed her, taking his time as he considered if this was the right moment to pop the question.

Right in the middle of the kiss, Sara suddenly pushed Nick away and looked at him oddly. "Why are you still wearing your jacket?" He usually shrugged his jacket off as soon as he walked into his house and she was suspicious.

Nick was broadsided by the question and should have been able to answer it without missing a beat, but the kiss had short circuited his brain somewhat and he found himself fumbling with his words. "Huh?"

Sara's voice had an edge of panic. "You always take your jacket off when you come inside."

Nick just looked at Sara unsure of what to say and unsure of why she was suddenly freaking out.

She continued rambling, scooting away from him on the couch and glancing down at the bear. "I saw an episode of the 'Forensic Files' like this." She looked up at him with the most forlorn expression on her face. "It would be a lot easier if you just broke up with me."

Nick looked at her incredulously and shook his head. "Sara, I don't want to break up with you, and this is us, not the 'Forensic Files'."

Sara still looked panicked as if she wasn't sure she believed him. No man had ever shown her the love or affection Nick had and in the back of her mind she was just waiting for the other shoe to drop because he was acting weird. "You don't want to break up with me?"

Nick let out a laugh of disbelief. "No, I do not want to break up with you." He scooted over towards her and felt a rush of nerves again. "In fact I have something else I want to say."

"You do?" Sara's eyes were wide and her heart was beating frantically.

Nick nodded and smiled at her. "Yeah, I do." He reached over and took her hand. "I love you more than I thought I could possibly love anyone. Now, I'm not sure if this is too soon, or if this is something that you even want, but I just needed to tell you how I feel."

"Oh." Sara wasn't sure this explained his strange behavior; he was acting about as nervous as a suspect during an interrogation.

"I haven't taken my jacket off because I have another present for you in the pocket and I didn't want you to see it." Nick decided that honesty was the best policy even if she guessed what it was he was going to say.

"You got me another present?" Sara really thought Nick was acting very out of character. It wasn't her birthday and Christmas had just passed.

Nick just nodded and felt a smile pulling at his lips. "Do you want to see what it is?"

Sara nodded a bit skeptically, but in the back of her mind a million possibilities were filtering through.

Nick reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box.

Sara's eyes widened and she let out a soft whimper as she realized what was in his hand.


	4. Chapter 4

A wave of unparalleled emotion swept over Sara and a mixture of shock, disbelief and something close to joy flitted across her face. Her eyes were riveted on that small black velvet box in Nick's hand, but until she actually heard the words come out of his mouth, she wasn't going to assume that she knew what was in it. She suddenly felt a little lightheaded and all the moisture in her mouth seemed to evaporate as she let out another whimper.

Sara's reaction wasn't exactly what Nick had hoped for and a seed of doubt began to fester that maybe he was rushing this decision and that Sara wasn't ready for this. However, he had already gone this far and he reasoned that he needed to go the distance; to back out now would only create misunderstanding in their relationship and fill Sara with self doubt. Nick's mouth felt incredibly dry and he cleared his throat nervously as he dropped down to one knee and reached for Sara's hand.

Sara's eyes widened even further and she let out a panicked sound as she looked at Nick. Her initial gut feeling was to bolt, but her legs felt something akin to jelly and she couldn't move.

Nick's voice cracked slightly as he started to speak. "I don't want to break up with you, Sara." He cleared his throat again. "I want to marry you." He fumbled with the small velvet box and opened it up to reveal a beautiful diamond ring. He looked at a very flustered Sara Sidle and put on his best smile. "Will you marry me, Sara? "

Sara didn't say anything for a very long moment. She stared at Nick and then stared at the ring and then stared at Nick again. Her words came out in disbelief. "You want to marry me?" Emotions were flying at her so fast she wasn't sure how she was supposed to react.

Nick felt stricken by her response but he nodded all the same. He wasn't sure what Sara's reaction meant exactly; he just knew that he felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach and he assumed that it was his heart breaking into a million pieces. His voice was thick with emotion. "Yes, I want to marry you." He had never felt more exposed in his entire life.

"You want to marry me." Sara repeated the phrase as if doing so would make the question more real to her. She stared at the ring again and what Nick had asked her finally began to sink in. "You really want to marry me." Her tone was incredulous, as if the real possibility of marrying Nick might never have entered her mind.

For some reason, Nick felt a bit of relief that she hadn't said 'no' yet, but then again, she still hadn't said 'yes'. He gathered his courage and spoke again. "Yes, I really want to marry you."

For the first time it registered in Sara's mind that Nick was still down on one knee and he was waiting for her to answer the question. The expression on his face was bordering on pathetic and she could tell that he was on the verge of losing it. Her brow furrowed in concern for him as she reached out to touch his arm. "Oh, Nick."

Nick misread her expression and pulled himself off of the floor and back up to the couch. His voice was barely a whisper. "I'm sorry I just thought…" He couldn't finish his sentence as he sniffled. He felt as if his heart was imploding.

For some reason, Sara found the whole situation a bit comical. "Nick." Her voice was soft but insistent.

"I knew it was too soon and here you're talking about breaking up." Nick wiped at a tear that slid down his cheek. He was never very good at keeping his emotions in check when it came to his heart.

Sara reached for his hand. "Nick, I don't want to break up." She realized how hard this was for him to even ask her and then her reaction probably just made it that much harder for him.

Nick's head snapped up. "You don't?" He looked so vulnerable.

Sara shook her head, a smile beginning to form. "No." She squeezed his hand. "I love you. I just wasn't expecting you to propose to me. You kind of took me by surprise." She looked at him earnestly.

"I love you too." He smiled, but he still felt uncertainty since the question was still out there and she hadn't answered him yet. He glanced down at the ring and then with a resigned sigh, snapped the box shut. He assumed her lack of an answer meant 'no'.

"Nick." Sara chuckled softly at his defeat.

"Yeah." He sounded tired, but he looked up at her and met her gaze.

"Are you going to let me answer the question?" She was amused, not because she was trying to string him along, but because he was wearing his heart on his sleeve and she found it incredibly endearing.

Nick laughed nervously. "I guess you didn't really say 'yes' or 'no' did you?" He glanced over at her and furrowed his brow.

She shook her head. "No, I didn't." She smiled at him. "Yes."

Nick didn't say anything. He looked a little confused. "Did you say 'yes'?" It was the answer he wanted to hear, but he just wanted to make sure he heard her correctly.

"Yes, I said 'yes'." Sara nodded and nibbled at her lower lip a bit nervously. "I want to marry you, that is if you still want to marry me." Her fear of being rejected was reflected in her tone and in her expression.

Nick answered her with a kiss. When they finally broke apart quite a few minutes later they were lying tangled on the couch with dopey grins adorning their faces.

Sara looked at him in amusement. "You still have your jacket on."

"I haven't really had a chance to take it off. I've been a little busy." He grinned back at her and he realized that he still had the ring box in his hand. He quirked an eyebrow at her in disbelief. "You really said 'yes' didn't you? You're really going to marry me."

She nodded. "Yes, but I seem to be missing something." She wiggled her fingers in front of his face.

He smirked at her. "You know this wasn't exactly how I'd pictured proposing to you."

Sara smirked back. "Just how did you plan on proposing then?" A realization hit her just then and she propped herself up on his chest. She had one brow arched and her lips pursed together as she looked at him expectantly. "And just when did you decide that you wanted to marry me anyway?"


	5. Chapter 5

Nick smiled at her softly. "Honestly, I think I've been thinking about it off and on since we got together, but I really decided to do something about it a couple of weeks ago; I just never had enough time off to do anything about it until today."

Sara furrowed her brow. "And I had to come over here and mess everything up."

Nick laughed. "You didn't mess it up, honey; you just changed the timetable a little bit. Besides, I didn't want you to break up with me." His expression was a bit more serious.

Sara just looked at him for the longest moment still amazed that he'd asked her to marry him. "How were you going to ask me?"

Nick shifted his weight a little bit so they were lying facing each other on the couch. "Well, there was the bear, he was part of it." He reached over and brushed her hair off of her face. "And then I was going to make you a romantic candlelit dinner and, well, I hadn't gotten very far in planning this and that's why the bear was in the Denali." He looked at her a bit sheepishly.

She chuckled. "Well, believe it or not, I think a romantic candlelit dinner would have freaked me out."

Nick arched a brow in mock skepticism. "You? Not the woman who thought she was going to become the topic of the next 'Forensic Files'."

Sara swatted at him. "I'm sorry about that but you were acting weird."

He smiled. "I was nervous. I didn't know if you'd say 'yes'."

She looked at him with feigned suspicion. "Hey, this isn't one of those bait and switch things is it? I seem to recall there was a ring in this deal somewhere."

Nick laughed and leaned over and kissed Sara chastely before opening the ring box which he still had in his hand. "No bait and switch; it's the real thing." He watched Sara's face as he let her look at the ring for a long moment.

Sara just stared at the ring. The reality of what he'd just asked her sinking in further. The ring itself was exquisite in its simplicity and Sara knew that it was perfect. She felt a lump in her throat as she realized that she would never have another moment with him quite like this and she wanted to remember it forever. She looked up into his eyes and she spoke in a voice that was a mixture of excitement and sentiment. "Will you put it on my finger?"

Nick grinned at her and tried in vain to pull the ring out of the box with the same hand he was holding onto the box with. He let out a chuckle. "Maybe I should get up first."

Sara shook her head and reached over and pulled the ring out of the box and handed it to him. "There." A smile began to spread across her face as Nick slid the ring onto her finger.

Nick's voice was slightly husky. "It looks good on you." He never would have imagined when he'd met her four and a half years ago that he would be giving her a ring full of a promise of a life together.

Sara couldn't keep the smile off of her face as she looked at the ring on her finger. She was really engaged to Nick Stokes.

"I was thinking that we might need to get you a necklace or something to put it on when you're working crime scenes." Nick had agonized over whether to buy her a traditional diamond engagement ring or to buy one that wouldn't tear latex gloves. In the end, the diamond had won out and he was glad.

Sara furrowed her brow for a moment. "I guess I really can't wear it like this at crime scenes can I?"

Nick chuckled. "Well you could, but I'm not sure the department's budget for gloves could handle it."

Sara rested her hand on Nick's chest. "I love you."

"I love you too." Nick suddenly felt emotional and he found himself blinking back tears.

Sara leaned in and kissed him, her arm snaking around his neck as they traded long deep kisses for quite a while; and then a thought occurred to her and she began to giggle.

Nick pulled back and looked at her quizzically.

Sara smirked. "I just realized that our food is cold." She wasn't really complaining, but she realized if they kept up their current course they were going to be very hungry later.

Amusement flickered across Nick's face. "I wouldn't want to get in the way of Sara Sidle and food."

Sara narrowed her gaze at him, trying to keep from smiling. "That's the future Mrs. Stokes to you buddy."

"I like how that sounds." Nick's perma-smile returned full force.

"Me too." Sara's smile was giving Nick's a run for its money.

They pulled themselves up off of the couch and reheated the food before they settled themselves on the couch again.

Sara kept pausing to look at her ring and Nick couldn't resist teasing her. "You know if that's distracting you, I could hold onto it until you're done eating."

Sara feigned a glare at him. "Don't even try it. I'm not taking this ring off for anything."

Nick grinned. "That's good to know."

_**Six Months Later:**_

Nick and Sara had just returned from their three week long honeymoon to find a few things had changed around the lab. For starters, Conrad Ecklie had been fired after Sophia had filed a sexual harassment charge against him, and when that news had come to light, several other women who had worked under him on dayshift had come forward with similar accusations. The Sheriff had made it clear that he had a zero tolerance for such behavior and to underscore that, he'd promoted Sophia to the position of assistant lab director to replace Ecklie. In addition to that, both Catherine and Grissom had taken it upon themselves to negotiate for a little change in staffing; news that both Nick and Sara found exciting since it meant they'd be working together back on the night shift again.

It was a startled, yet surprisingly pleased Gil Grissom that discovered the last change one evening when he walked into the locker room and interrupted a rather intense lip lock between two other lab employees.

Someone had decided that if Nick and Sara could not only date, but get married and still work together, then anything was possible. He had found her in the locker room after shift and she could tell that he had something on his mind that he wanted to talk to her about. In the end, words really weren't really necessary because that kiss told them everything. And it was only three short weeks later that Catherine and Warrick eloped.

_**The End**_


End file.
